Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Under Pressure

Some days, I feel like buckling...

More on this in a bit; I'm not really in the mood for navel gazing. I'm in the mood to vent. I often get to work early. It gives me a chance to have a coffee, catch up on e-mails and generally ease myself into the day.
It also makes one a target for people who say things like "As you're here, would you just..."

Of course, the argument runs, if you don't want to be asked questions, hide. (Or don't go in early..?) Either way, I accept this is going to happen, especially in this business. But I reserve the right to say that I'm not on duty. If the fuckers are going to treat me like shit, they can't expect 110% from me. Which I know isn't very caring, but there you go. We're not talking about life and death shit here.

So, there seem to be two ways a person might approach the early Shroom at work, while he is quite clearly attending to personal business, and not at work.

--- Firstly, you might bid the Shroom good morning and ask if he wouldn't mind reviewing a patient, as the SHO is tied up, and it'll save delays, etc.

Unless I'm in a really bad mood, I'll do it.

--- Secondly, you might march up to the Shroom. Do not say hello, do not introduce yourself. Instead, start moaning about the grief management is handing out about The Situation. Demand to know what Shroom is going to do about it. Look aghast when he explains he's just walked in, and doesn't know anything about The Situation. For extra sympathy, walk off while he's talking to you.

Whatever mood I was in before you started, it's now bad.

Of course this sort of thing could never happen in the NHS. Managers there value their Doctors, and more importantly, their patients as humans, not numbers, or targets. And God forbid that such a situation arose because the Management couldn't get the Department staffed adequately overnight.

In case you were wondering, the situation here might have been, for example, that waiting times had reached three hours. They hadn't, of course, so I'm sure that wasn't it.

4 comments:

Bo... said...

I'll never forget the time I overheard a doctor explaining to a new doctor: "Now whatever you do, DON'T say a damn word to Bo before she's had her first cup of coffee--or else you'll regret it for the rest of the day." It cracked me up because I truly had no idea that I had a "before coffee" personality, heh! (And all I need is one cup... just one little cup....)

Extinct and hunted said...

Although at the time you were obviously not amused by the second scenario, you write about it in a very amusing way. It made me chuckle as I have had those experiences and similar afterthoughts in the past. You know the kind that make you wonder whether anyone on this planet is sane or has an ounce of intelligence. Particularly psychological sophistication....no-one seems to have that these days. You have my sympathies.

Calavera said...

Haha, I love the way you write. It makes me laugh.

I would say try to avoid getting into work early, but I think we're totally similar that way, and it wouldn't work for me either.

Sounds like the second person has no tact and/or social skills. You don't just walk away from a conversation like that. Jeez.

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